Canada has threatened to pull its troops from insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan unless NATO allies send reinforcements. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservative minority government faces increasing opposition in parliament, said NATO's reputation was on the line. The mandate for 2,500 Canadian troops deployed in Kandahar Province, a Taliban stronghold, is set to expire next year.

NATO has 42,000 troops in Afghanistan. One-third are from the US, in addition to a separate US combat mission. Troops in the south and east of the country have borne the brunt of escalating Taliban violence.

Dissatisfaction over Canada's slowing economy is also costing Harper support in parliament, potentially triggering early elections, reports Bloomberg. Harper has promised to hold a vote on the NATO mission extension, as well as introduce a supplementary budget amid growing criticism over fiscal policy. Under parliamentary protocol, a budget defeat represents a no-confidence vote.

The friction over NATO troop levels comes as the Afghan government rebuffs the appointment of a prominent British diplomat to head the United Nations mission in Kabul while also serving as a NATO representative. Paddy Ashdown, a veteran British politician, headed the UN mission to Bosnia in 2002-05 and was promoted as a "super envoy." But his candidacy was opposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who reportedly feared the creation of a Western "viceroy" who could undercut his administration, which is frequently accused of being a pawn of Western powers.